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Dagelijks archief 1 september 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets Palestinian authority executives in Ramallah, West Bank on 25 July 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas voiced hope on Friday – the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday – that next year’s Eid would see the city of Jerusalem “liberated from the Israeli occupation”.

In a brief statement to reporters after performing Eid prayers at the presidential office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas extended his wish for a happy holiday to the Arab and Muslim world.

“Eid Mubarak to the Arab and Muslim nations,” he declared. “By next year’s Eid, we hope to see the liberation of Al-Quds Al-Sharif [Jerusalem] and the release of our jailed brothers [detained by Israel].”

Shortly afterward, accompanied by senior Palestinian Authority officials, Abbas placed a wreath at the tomb of late Palestinian President and resistance icon Yasser Arafat.

In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians performed Eid prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque, which the Israeli authorities opened to Palestinian worshipers.

And in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, called on rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas to achieve “national reconciliation” based on “Palestinian rights and resistance”.

In an Eid sermon delivered in Gaza City’s Al-Saraya Square, Bahar asserted: “Reconciliation is a national and humanitarian obligation. We want reconciliation based on inalienable Palestinian rights and on the ongoing resistance project.”

In this year of significant anniversaries — the Balfour Declaration; Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip; the Israeli-led siege of Gaza — another is creeping up on us. The fifth anniversary of the day that the Taliban tried to kill schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai is fast approaching. The Pakistani child was shot in the head for promoting the rights of girls to be educated and her plight immediately won the hearts and admirations of millions when news of her horrific injuries emerged.

Today, Nobel Peace Laureate Malala is preparing to go to Oxford University after winning a place at Lady Margaret Hall to study philosophy, politics and economics. The 20-year-old could not have given a better response to those men in Pakistan who do not believe that girls have a right to be educated. She has more than silenced her critics by showing what courage, determination and intelligence can do.

Deliberately trying to stop children from being educated is what backward, primitive regimes do. Why, then, does the self-declared “only democracy in the Middle East” — Israel — do its best to stop Palestinian children from going to school?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. That is why Malala inspired so many by her struggle to be educated. World leaders and politicians queued up to be photographed with her so that they could bask in some reflected glory.

Those powerful people who were so vocal in condemning the Taliban are, however, shamefully silent when it comes to criticising Israel’s position on the education of the Palestinians living under its brutal military occupation. Even more evidence was presented for all to see last week when hundreds of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank turned up for the new academic year and found their brand new school buildings reduced to rubble.

Israeli soldiers went to the school, which serves children in Jubbet Al-Dhib and district near Bethlehem, and tore down six classrooms; the rubble was also taken away — “confiscated” — by the Israelis, who only left behind some chairs on the bare concrete floors. The primary school was funded by the European Union (EU).

The school at Jubbet Al-Dhib was the third to be demolished or have its teaching resources removed by Israel in August; even the district’s one and only kindergarten for the Jabal Al-Baba Bedouin community was targeted. Soldiers also removed the solar panels which provided the only source of power for the school.

Muted expressions of “concern” have been churned out in press releases from EU offices in Jerusalem and Ramallah, as well as by Israeli human rights groups. This Taliban-like act received almost no wider condemnation of any kind from the international community.

The systematic destruction of Palestinian schools and consequent cruel disruption of classes and education for the Palestinian children should have caused global outrage. Putting a gun to a child’s head to stop her from being educated is an act of pure evil, but let us be in no doubt that destroying an entire school to stop hundreds of other children from being educated is equally repugnant and equally unacceptable.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is an Israeli military operation implementing the government’s apartheid policies. Officers said that the schools were destroyed because they did not have official, Israel-issued building permits. Palestinians rarely get permits to build anything in the occupied territories, so we should not be fooled by these weasel words. It is high time that Tel Aviv is held to account for its Talibanesque destruction of Palestinian education facilities.

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank have been left homeless and denied electricity, fresh water and basic foodstuff. In Gaza, educational institutions, including schools, were deliberately targeted and bombed by Israel.

Now it seems that education per se is something that Israel wants to deny the youthful Palestinian population. However, like the backward men of the Taliban, the Zealots in Tel Aviv have overlooked one thing: Palestine is filled with thousands of Malalas who know that education is their right and they will not allow it to be taken from them.

The education of Malala Yousafzai was an act of resistance against a belligerent, brutal regime, just as it is for the children of Palestine. The silence that greeted Israel’s demolition of Palestinian schools betrays all that Malala continues to stand for. Those who feted her in the aftermath of the attempted assassination included the United Nations, Barack Obama and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They should hang their heads in shame for not condemning Israel, as they did so readily the Taliban. Those who would deny children an education, whether in Pakistan or Palestine, should be isolated until they earn their place amongst the civilised nations of the world. Israel is no exception.

Two more Palestinian patients have died after being denied permits by Israeli authorities to exit Gaza for medical treatment. Both women were diagnosed with cancer and denied access to vital treatment in Jerusalem.

According to Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Ka’enat Mustafa Ja’arour, 42, was suffering from uterine cancer, and was referred for treatment at a hospital in Jerusalem. Her first request for a permit to exit Gaza via the Erez Crossing was submitted to the Israeli authorities at the end of April 2017, and was rejected. She received no response to two subsequent requests until her death on 27 August.

Fatin Nader Ahmed, 26, was referred to the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem for treatment for brain cancer. Her first permit request was submitted to the Israeli authorities in November 2016, however, the status of her permit request for treatment remained “under security check”. Two further requests also remained under security check, and a fourth was rejected. Fatin’s fifth request was finally approved, allowing her to cross Erez for treatment in Jerusalem. Doctors at Augusta Victoria Hospital recommended a course of four consecutive sessions of chemotherapy. However, following her first treatment, Fatin’s following three permits to exit Gaza for treatment were rejected by Israeli authorities, not allowing her access to the vital completion of her course of treatment.

Fatin died in Gaza City on 23 August 2017, a mere hour’s drive away from the hospital that could have given her the treatment which could have extended her life.

This year has been marked by a significant increase in the barriers to treatment for patients in Gaza. At least 25 patients are recorded to have died so far this year after being prevented from accessing treatment elsewhere.

In June, Israel approved permits for less than half (49.5%) of all patients seeking to exit for treatment in East Jerusalem, the West Bank or abroad. These permits are critical for many patients unable to access the medical treatment they need within Gaza. Some patients have also been affected by reported reductions in the number of patients granted financial coverage for treatment referrals by the Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

Gaza’s humanitarian emergency

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) last week announced that Gaza is experiencing a humanitarian emergency. Electricity shortages cause blackouts of 18-20 hours per day, and have significantly reduced vital hospital services. Diagnostic services are limited to when mains electricity is available, and voltage fluctuations have damaged sensitive medical equipment such as CT scanners.

Medical supplies are also depleted. In July, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 40% of essential medicines and 34% of medical disposables were at ‘zero stock’ (meaning that less than a month’s supply is available) including half of all cancer drugs.

The accessibility of healthcare is a fundamental element of the right to health. As the occupying power, Israel has an international legal obligation to ensure humanitarian assistance to the population under its control, including access to medical care. Palestinian duty-bearers are also obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the population and ensure access to medical care without discrimination, insofar as they are able within the constraints of occupation.

You can read our latest report and infographics on how the occupation undermines the accessibility of healthcare here.

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police confiscated weapons and ammunition during search and detention raids carried out in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, when at least two Palestinians were also detained by Israeli forces.

According to an Israeli police statement, a loaded gun was found inside a sock on a rooftop of a Palestinian’s home that was raided in East Jerusalem. Two rifles and ammunition were also found in a bedroom of another home.

The statement did not specify in what neighborhoods the raids had taken place.

The statement added that two Palestinians were detained by Israeli police during the raids, and were transferred for interrogations with Israeli authorities.

Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with a biweekly average of 85 search and detention raids carried thus far in 2017, according to UN documentation.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 6,128 Palestinians were detained by Israel as of July, 320 of whom were children. The group has estimated that some 40 percent of Palestinian men will be detained by Israel at some point in their lives.

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities on Thursday decided to ban the Secretary of the Fatah movement in the al-Thawri neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem from entering Jerusalem City for four months over alleged accusations of “incitement.”The head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners, Amjad Abu Asab, told Ma’an that Israeli authorities delivered an order to Mahdi Abu Nijmeh on Thursday banning him from the city.According to Asab, the order gave Nijmeh four days to file an appeal before the ban is implemented.He added that the Israeli intelligence and army forces had raided Nijmeh’s house several times before Thursday in attempts to detain him, though Nijmeh was not home.Israeli forces then left Nijmeh interrogation summons, and when he headed to the Russian compound, he was interrogated for “incitement via Facebook” and was delivered the ban order after several hours of interrogation.Israeli forces have detained scores of Palestinian activists, local political leaders, and journalists over accusations of “incitement” in recent months, while banning detainees from entering Jerusalem as a common punishment for such accusations.

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police forces on Friday raided a mosque in the central Israeli city of Lod, or Lydda, and attempted to stop the Eid al-Adha prayers and the call to prayer — also known as the adhan — that were being transmitted through the mosque’s speakers, citing noise violations.

Yaffa 48 news website reported that Israeli police escorted the Israeli mayor of the city, Yair Revivo, into the mosque, who physically attempted to prevent worshipers from partaking in the holiday prayers.

Revivo claimed that he was “hit in his arm” by worshipers while trying to prevent them from praying.

Worshipers said that the mayor’s actions were “provocative and racist,” adding that he “searches for ridiculous excuses to prevent prayers.”

One worshiper who was at the mosque said that Israeli police forces assaulted and pushed worshipers during the raid, according to Yaffa 48.

The witness added that Revivo assaulted one of the worshipers who was filming the incident.

Despite the raid, worshipers continued to file into the mosque and performed the prayers.

An Israeli police spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Last year, an Israeli ministerial committee approved draft legislation which could ban the use of loudspeakers to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer, which is broadcast five times a day from mosques or Islamic centers, in Israel.

The bill, which calls for barring the use of loudspeakers for any religious or “inciting” messages as part of the call to prayer, would need to go through several readings in the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — before making it into law.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out in support of the bill, saying “I cannot count the times, they are simply too numerous, that citizens have turned to me from all parts of Israeli society, from all religions, with complaints about the noise and suffering caused them by the excessive noise coming to them from the public address systems of houses of prayer.”A number of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship slammed the bill on Sunday as yet another instance of discrimination against non-Jewish citizens of Israel.Palestinian communities in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem have long been targeted by discriminatory Israeli policies, whether through “divide and conquer” tactics, attempts at forcibly displacing Bedouin communities, and what has been denounced as a policy of “Judaization” of Jerusalem at the expense of other religious communities.

Israeli soldiers shot and injured, on Thursday evening, a Palestinian man after firing at his car, at a sudden military roadblock between Qabatia town and Msalya village, south of Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers stopped the car of Samer Sameeh Abu Jalboush, 38, near “Abu George Animal Feed Factory,” and thoroughly searched it while inspecting his ID card.

They added that the soldiers then ordered him to leave, and just after driving a few meters, one soldier opened fire at his car, wounding him in the shoulder.

A Palestinian ambulance then rushed to the scene, and moved the man to a hospital in Jenin city. The soldiers did not provide medical treatment to the wounded man, and did not attempt to abduct him.

It is worth mentioning that the soldiers also installed many sudden roadblocks near villages and towns in Jenin governorate, stopped and searched dozens of cars, and inspected the ID cards of the passengers.

In its weekly report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 24 – 29 August 2017, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that Israeli forces continued systematic crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. During the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 7 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Five of them, including 2 children, were wounded in the West Bank, and the 2 others, including a child, were wounded in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip continued to chase the Palestinian fishermen in the sea.

Israeli attacks in the West Bank:

Israeli forces conducted 39 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 50 civilians, including 10 children and a woman, were abducted in the West Bank. Eighteen of them, including 3 children and a woman, were abducted in Jerusalem. 2 Palestinian civilians were abducted at the checkpoints in the West Bank.

In the West Bank, on 25 August 2017, Israeli forces wounded 3 civilians, including a child, with rubber-coated metal bullets during Kafr Qaddoum protest, northeast of qalqilya, against the closure of the eastern entrance to the village since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada with an iron gate.

On 29 August 2017, two Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded with bullets when Israeli forces moved into Nablus to accompany dozens of settlers while entering “Josef Tomb” in the eastern side of the city to perform religious rituals. A number of children and young men gathered at the entrance to Balatah refugee camp and threw stones and empty bottles at the Israeli vehicles. The Israeli soldiers in response opened fire at them, wounding both of them.

Israeli forces continued efforts to create Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem. A Jewish synagogue was opened in Silwan village. Students of al-Aqsa Sharia School were denied access to their school in the mosque under the pretext of receiving the Palestinian curriculum books.

In the context of creating a Jewish majority in the City, On 24 August 2017, Israeli Ministers, members of Knesset and Rabbis opened a Jewish synagogue in the neighborhood of Batn Al-Hawa in Silwan south of occupied Jerusalem. Zuhair al-Rajabi, Head of Batn al-Hawa neibourhood Committee, said that the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Uri Ariel, and Members of the Knesset as well as Rabbis and nearly 300 settlers opened a synagogue in Batn Al-Hawa in “Abu Nab” building which was seized in 2015. They brought two books from the Torah inside the property. It should be mentioned that the building is comprised of 5 apartments and characterized by its distinctive character. Thus, settlement organizations claim that it was a synagogue for the Jews of Yemen in the late 19th century and began to demand the evacuation of the property since 2004. The property falls within the “Ateerat Cohanim” scheme to control the 5200 square meters from the “Batn Al-Hawa” neighborhood, claiming it belongs to Jews from Yemen since 1881.

As part of targeting educational institutions, on 24 August 2017, the Israeli police denied students of al-Aqsa Sharia School access to their school in the Mosque, under the pretext of receiving book of the Palestinian curriculum with the Palestinian flag printed on which. They abducted Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat, Director of the Sharia Education in the Islamic Endowments “Aqwqa”, and Robin Muhsen, Seceterait at al-Qsa School. They also took the ID card of teacher Nader al-Afghani and summoned him for investigation at al-Qeshlah police station in Old Jerusalem. Al-Afghani teaches 100 female students at al-Aqsa Sharia School for Girls and 150 male students in al-Aqsa Sharia School for Boys from the 7th to 12th grade.

As part of targeting the NGOs, on 28 August 2017, Israeli forces raided Yabus Cultural Center on al-Zahraa’ Street and banned a research seminar. The Israeli Intelligence Service surrounded the Center an hour before the scheduled time for the seminar. They took the ID cards of the participants, forced them to leave the hall, and prevented anyone from entering it. The Israeli forces then fixed a decision signed by the Israeli Police Commander in Jerusalem saying that the ban is based on the ” 2016 Anti-Terrorism Law” under the pretext that Hamas Movement organizes the seminar.

In one example of this week’s 39 invasions, on Thursday August 24th at approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into Kafel Hares village, north of Salfit. They raided and searched a number of houses after which they abducted 4 civilians, including 2 children, namely Eyad Raed Fayez al-Qaq (16), Anas Saber Hamad Shaqour (17), Ahmed Marwan Saleh Buziyah (23) and ‘Odai Hasan Shaqour (23). The soldiers also stole about NIS 1200 and JD 50 from a house belonging to Marwan Saleh Buziyah when they abducted his son Ahmed, but the soldiers denied that. Marwan said to PCHR’s fieldworker that:

“At approximately 03:00 on Thursday, 24 August 2017, my sons and I were in the living room as we were expecting the Israeli forces to come to our house after we knew they were in the village. My son, Ahmed, has always been in permanent confrontation with the Israeli forces, so his arrest was expected. The door was suddenly opened as the soldiers broke it with a special machine without knocking on the door. A large number of Israeli soldiers deployed all over the house while other soldiers searched the rooms. We knew that the soldiers will steal our money from the closet as I was saving it preparing for Eid al-Adha. While the soldiers were leaving the house, my wife went to the closet and opened it, but did not find the money. I quickly followed the officer and informed him that his soldiers stole money from me, but he denied that. The officer then ordered each soldier to take his wallet out of his pocket, but he did not search or even open them. He then promised me that he will turn the money back, but in vain, and this how they stole about NIS 1200 and JD 50.”

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:

Israeli forces continued to target the Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip Sea. Seven shooting incidents were documented against Palestinian fishing boats in the northern Gaza Strip.

In the Gaza Strip, border areas witnessed protests against the unjust closure imposed on the Gaza population. During these protests, Israeli forces used force against the protestors, particularly when dispersing them. As a result, 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded after being directly hit with tear gas canisters.

Concerning attacks on fishermen, on 24 August 2017, Israeli gunboats sporadically opened fire at and chased Palestinian fishing boats, northwest of Beit Lahia village, north of the Gaza Strip. The shooting recurred in the abovementioned area on 26, 27, and 28 August 2017.

On 26 August 2017, Israeli gunboats sporadically opened fire at the Palestinian fishing boats, west of al-Soudaniya area, west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. The shooting recurred in the same area on 27 August 2017.

Also this week, Israeli forces abducted a Palestinian worker at Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli attacks on non-violent demonstrations:

Israeli forces continued their pattern of attacking the weekly demonstrations held to protest against the annexation wall and settlement activities.

At approximately 13:30 on Friday, 25 August 2017, Palestinian civilians and International activists organized a protest in the center of Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyah. They made their way to the eastern entrance to the village in protest against closing that entrance since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada with an iron gate. When the protesters approached the entrance, the Israeli forces fired metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at them. As a result, a 37-year-old civilian sustained a metal bullet wound to the head; an 18-year-old civilian sustained a metal bullet wound to the abdomen; and an 8-year-old child sustained a metal bullet wound to the left leg.

Following the Friday prayer, dozens of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized protests in Bil’in and Ni’lin villages, west of Ramallah; al-Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the city. Israeli forces forcibly dispersed the protesters, firing live and metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs. They also chased protesters into olive fields and between the houses. As a result, some of the protesters suffered tear gas inhalation while others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

At approximately 16:00 on the same Friday, 25 August 2017, dozens of Palestinian civilians gathered near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, in response to calls for protests in the border area against the Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem. A number of the young men set fire to tires and threw stones at the Israeli forces stationed along the abovementioned border fence. The soldiers fired live bullets, tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at them. The clashes continued until approximately 20:00 on the same day. As a result, a 22-year-old civilian, from Jabalia, was hit with a tear gas canister to the back; and a 15-year-old child, from al-Shija’iyah neighborhood in Gaza, was hit with a tear gas canister to the back. The wounded civilians were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia. Their injuries were classified as minor.

(PCHR keeps the name of the wounded civilians)

Recommendations to the international community:

Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the PCHR made several recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that the European Union apply human rights standards embedded in the EU-Israel Association Agreement and to respect its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights when dealing with Israel.

In addition, the PCHR calls upon the international community, especially states that import Israeli weapons and military services, to meet their moral and legal responsibility not to allow Israel to use the offensive in Gaza to test new weapons and not accept training services based on the field experience in Gaza in order to avoid turning Palestinian civilians in Gaza into testing objects for Israeli weapons and military tactics.